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I’M STUCK SITTING NEXT TO SOMEONE REALLY ANNOYING!

Hey Brandon!

At my school, we have assigned seats during lunchtime and I’m forced to sit next to this girl who drives me NUTS! She’s loud, rude, and totally obnoxious. How do I make her stop so that I can eat in peace?!

Lousy Lunch

Hey Lousy Lunch,

Wow. Your school has assigned seating for LUNCH? I mean, I assume it MUST. Because otherwise I’d just tell you not to sit by her!

But since you HAVE to sit by her (which is a bummer), I think the main thing to address is this:

How do I make her stop so that I can eat in peace?!

Short answer: You can’t. I mean, the thing is you can’t ever force someone to change his or her behavior. You can only change YOUR reaction to it. She is who she is. But here are a few things that might help you deal with it:

HEADPHONES: I mean, it’s a little anti-social, but if she bugs you enough, you could put on headphones and listen to music or an audiobook, or even just noise-cancelling white noise.

COMPASSION: Ask yourself WHY she is how she is. Is she always like that or is it when she’s just at lunch? Does she have something like ADHD that might be a part of her behavior? If she does, it might be somewhat out of her control. Just be aware of stuff like that.

TRY TALKING TO OTHER PEOPLE: Make conversation with the other people you sit around. Don’t IGNORE this girl, exactly, but try not to let her antics ruin your lunch. Smile and nod at whatever she’s doing, and then go back to your calmer conversation with other kids around you.

TRY TALKING TO HER: This is kind of the opposite of what I said before, but it sounds like she wants attention. And sometimes our natural reaction to someone who wants attention is to NOT give it to them. Like, we don’t want their attention-hogging behavior to pay off for them. Except…if they want attention, it’s probably because they’re missing it somewhere else in their life. So maybe before she gets too crazy, you could ask her genuine questions about her life or her opinion on stuff. Get her TALKING before she feels the need to balance a lunch tray on her head or something.

AND HANG IN THERE: It’s not forever. It’s super annoying, but it WILL end. Think of it as character building. You’re going to be soooo patient after surviving this! 🙂

If none of these things work and this is just a really impossible situation, you could consider talking to your teacher, lunchroom monitor or whoever’s in charge of the seating assignments. Talk to them about the steps you’ve taken, and ask if you can be moved. I mean, hopefully you won’t be told “no,” but be prepared just in case you are. In these situations, it seems like teachers usually tell us to work it out or learn to live with it. They think they’re preparing us for later in life when we have annoying co-workers, roommates or whatever.

But if they say yes, you should also be prepared to explain why you moved, especially since the girl you’re trying to move from might wonder what happened. You’ll probably hurt her feelings if you say, “I asked to be moved because you’re an annoying wacko!” So maybe have a kinder reason prepared, like “I just wanted somewhere different to sit.”

I hope these suggestions help!

Hey readers, how do YOU handle a super annoying person you’re forced to interact with?

I feel so sorry for you… 🙁
I was stuck sitting in front of my MORTAL ENEMY in class for TWO WHOLE MONTHS! The key is, just ignore her and try making conversation with other friends like Brandin said. Like, IF that girl bothers you.

Just this week our teacher started Flexibe seating and I’m sitting with my BFF now but, last year we had lunch seating and I was sitting with my BFF but, I also was sitting with 3 annoying boys one grade above me

I’m like that girl, I’m really annoying but the reason I blab on and on is because I’m naturally just a chatterbox and I can’t really help being myself. If you want to be moved away from her ask your teachers if they can change everyone’s seats so that your sitting with your friends and the girl will get distracted from her own friends.

We are assigned seats in school for every class except lunch! And I’ve had to sit with quite a few irritating people. My advice is: Eat your lunch/do your work and ask her to PLEASE not make such a noise because it is distracting you. Hopefully, she’ll listen!

I need help- at my school I have these friends who come to lunch late every day, leaving me sitting alone until they do come, during the middle of lunch. And sometimes there won’t be room at my table by the time they come so they sit somewhere else. I really don’t want to stop sitting by them because it’ll hurt their feelings and they’re really nice but I don’t know what to do.

Hey, guys! Having trouble talking to the girl you like? And girls, do you ever wonder what boys are really thinking? I’ve got you covered! I’m here to give you honest advice from a dude’s point-of-view. Understanding the opposite gender doesn’t have to be as hard as Honors Calculous. As a guy, I’ve learned a thing or two about girls just by hanging out with my friend, Nikki. So, go ahead! Tell me what’s on your mind!
I’ll answer a question each week and post one of the cool pics I’ve personally taken of the kids at my school.